Dancing with live music in the Gardens of Al-Zoum! 

with Laura Shannon and live music from Kostantis Kourmadias and Nikolas Angelopoulos, plus special guests Dimitris Brendas and Alexis Nonis.

We will dance with live music on the first Saturday of every month until July, inviting different guests and friends.

Kostantis Kourmadias and Nikolas Angelopoulos are professional musicians renowned for their mastery of traditional musical styles. For 15 years, they have provided exquisite live music for many of my seminars in Greece, Europe and the UK. The instruments they play, saz, violin, and lafta, allow them to play modal music using microtones lost from our Western 12-note scale, frequencies which have been used for healing since ancient times. Our special guests Dimitris Brendas (clarinet, gad, kaval), Alexis Nonis (traditional percussion), and Achilleas Chachamis (vocal) will join Nikolas (lafta and laouto) to play haunting traditional music from mainland Greece. All three are members of Kompania Kyratzides. You can see and hear them at this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWt82tHv_6KtQBxxGqUcefw/playlists
For more information about all musicians, please scroll down to the end of this page.

 

We will dance simple traditional dances with live music, building a basic repertoire of Greek, Armenian and Bulgarian dances and offering one or two new ones each time. We feel simpler dances are easier to learn via Zoom. The simplest dances are also the oldest, with the greatest healing power. When we don't have to think about our movements, we can move more quickly to the advanced level of inner work which these ritual dances enable: kindling life energy, receiving the insights and wisdom of the dance, and sharing the blessings with others. We hope you will find this way of working to be rewarding and nourishing too.

 

Dances will be drawn from the following: 

Offering Govand, Issos Bratsera, Syrtos Tourna, Tsámikos Flambouro, Tsámikos Yiatrissa, Sta Tria Miliás, Sta Tria Ráhis, Ola ta Poulákia, Syrtos Sta Tria, Keesher Bar, Glava Li Ta Boli, Hora la Galana, Pogonisios, Zagorisios, Syrtós Dramas, Zonaradikos, and Syrtos Synkathistos. The dances are simple and the event is open to all.

 

Times

8-11 am PST (West Coast of N. America)

11 am-2 pm EST (East Coast of N. America) 

4-7 pm UK

17.00-20.00 Germany/Austria/Sweden/France

6-9 pm Greece

 

Registration

Please register in advance to get the link for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkd-GtqTIjE9GdiLMv8bqOthFkV9NL7tvz 

Once Diane receives your request and your payment, she will approve and you will receive your personal link for the meeting. 

 

Cost for the session, on a sliding scale: 

£12-24 pounds sterling, €14-28 euros, $16-32 US dollars, $20-40 Canadian dollars.

 

Methods of Payment

1) With Paypal in 4 easy steps:

    a) Click on this direct link to Diane's account: paypal.me/dianeschreiner

    b) Choose the currency you wish to pay with and enter the total amount.

    c) Click on the pencil icon and include the reference ‘LS Mar 6’

    d) Please select 'friend or family' rather than 'goods or services’. If the 'goods or services’ box is selected, deselect it. 

 

2) If you reside in Canada send an Etransfer in CAD:

If you do not have a PayPal account and you are paying from Canada in CAD, you can send your payment with an etransfer to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

3) SEPA-Transfer in euros

If you do not have a PayPal Account and wish to pay in euros, you can pay by direct SEPA-Transfer. Important: when you send your transfer, send Diane an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. confirming the amount you have transferred. 

Account holder: Laura Shannon

IBAN: BE27 9670 1233 9473

BIC: TRWIBEB1XXX

 

4) BACS in UK pounds sterling:

Important: when you send your transfer, send Diane an email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. confirming the amount you have transferred.

Account holder: Laura Shannon

Account Number: 00114697

Sort Code: 80-06-81

IBAN GB69BOFS80068100114697

BIC BOFSGB21290

 

Further information from Diane Schreiner: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Kostantis Kourmadias (violin, saz, vocal)

Kostantis specializes in traditional island music and the Greek music of Asia Minor, where his grandparents were born. He teaches Byzantine music at the Pallini Music High School in Athens and travels widely to accompany Laura in her seminars. He has released two CDs of Greek dance music (Taxidi and Limani) and a CD of his original compositions on traditional intruments (Lavra), available from this website.

 

Nikolas Angelopoulos (lafta and laouto) 

Nikolas plays with Christos Tsiamoulis, Kyriakos Gouventas, Kompania Kyratzides, ensemble Dorόs, and many other musicians, and is a rising star of the new generation of traditional Greek musicians. For over a decade he has accompanied Laura and Kostantis regularly in international concerts and seminars and plays on their CDs Lavra and Limani.

 

Dimitris Brentas (clarinet, gajda, kaval)

was born and raised in Pialeia (Trikala), and studied clarinet and gajda at the Athens Conservatory. He has been a member of the band Haïnides since 2008, is a founding member of the Dorós orchestral quartet and of Kompania Kyratzides, belongs to the band Villagers of Ioannina City, and plays on Kostantis Kourmadias' CDs Lavra and Limani.

 

Alexis Nonis (daouli, doumberleki, defi, dahere, bendir)

Born in Athens into a musical family, Alexis trained in classical piano and the Carl Orff method of music education, and since 1995 has focused on rhythm and percussion. From 2000 to 2014 he was a member of Haïnides, since 2011 has been a member of the ensemble Dorós, and plays on Kostantis Kourmadias' CD Lavra.

 

Achilleas Chachamis (vocal)

Born in Athens in 1983, Achilleas first learned traditional singing from his grandmother in Megala Kalivia, Trikala. He has been singing professionally since 2004 all over Greece and abroad, also at the FDF Greek dance competition in Los Angeles. He performs frequently on national television and is a member of Kompania Kyratzides.